Wise decision! Behind the Scenes of Kishida’s Lightning-Fast “Acceptance of Ukrainian War Refugees
Praised at home and abroad, and some say "As expected of the Koikekai
Prime Minister Kishida announced at a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office on the evening of February 2 that “Japan will accept” refugees who fled Ukraine after Russia’s military invasion of the country.
Prime Minister Kishida had a 30-minute telephone conversation with German President Steinmeier after 6:00 p.m., and was scheduled to continue the conversation with Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki after 7:00 p.m.
The call lasted only 20 minutes. During this time, he held a series of discussions with National Security Bureau Director-General Takeo Akiba, Finance Minister Masato Kanda, Foreign Ministry officials Shigeo Yamada and Hiroshi Suzuki, European Bureau Director Hideki Uyama, and Agency for Natural Resources and Energy Director-General Shin Hosaka, and sent out instructions for “immediate action” in rapid succession.
In this way, they made preparations to “accept refugees” and announced their “acceptance” in a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Morawiecki.
It was a brilliant “wise decision” by Prime Minister Kishida, who had been called “slow in making decisions” and “lacking in presence” since the start of his administration.
In a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Morawiecki, Kishida is said to have made the following statement.
“Our country is a member of the Polish people, a member of the EU We express our solidarity with the countries of the region and will not tolerate Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We are ready to provide necessary economic assistance to the countries that have accepted the refugees, and we are ready to accept war refugees from Ukraine in our country, and we are ready to charter aircraft at any time.
These powerful words were met with surprise and praise from home and abroad.
Electricity-intensive “confirmation” to all parties concerned.
Less than a week after the Russian invasion, UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees Kelly Clements reported that “700,000 Nearly all Ukrainians have been war-displaced,” he announced. Currently, Poland is hosting most of them. Prime Minister Kishida has stated that he will also provide assistance to such neighboring countries.
Prime Minister Kishida confirmed that the acceptance of Ukrainian war refugees “can be done under the current immigration law” and that “it is possible to accept more than the maximum quota of people to enter the country,” and issued an extremely swift decision and instructions to the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take immediate action.
The Significance of the Koikekai’s Role as a Peace-Seeking Organization
Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki has been
“I would like to express my utmost gratitude for Japan’s support.
He said he was grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the project. A senior member of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Koikekai proudly stated, “I am very proud to be a member of the Koikekai.
Prime Minister Kishida has shown what the peace-seeking Koikekai political group should be as a conservative mainline LDP government. It is a great achievement.
Prime Minister Kishida then said.
Every day there are large numbers of refugees. As soon as possible, we will proceed with procedures to accept war refugees.”
It may be “natural” in a world crisis. Japan’s refugee response has many serious problems. But this is a big step forward for Japan. Prime Minister Kishida is the first to announce that Japan will accept refugees without conditions.
Interview and text： Shutaro Iwashiro Photo： Representative photo/Reuters/Afro
